Thursday, January 22, 2004

From "Death row inmate's book chronicles McVeigh's secrets" by J. D. Cash in the McCurtain Daily Gazette, about a manuscript written by David Paul Hammer, an inmate on federal death row:

"A death row inmate who had extensive contacts with convicted bomber Timothy McVeigh over a 23-month period has completed a manuscript that includes details of many heretofore unpublished secrets he claims McVeigh passed to him before his death by lethal injection on June 11, 2001."

and:

"In the fresh account that Hammer provides, McVeigh says the men who assisted him in the bombing were persons with close connections to Elohim City – a Christian Identity enclave in eastern Oklahoma near Muldrow.

In a chapter titled, Blood Makes the Grass Grow, Hammer writes: 'On October 12th 1993, McVeigh and Terry Nichols drove from Fayetteville, Arkansas to Elohim City. They were met there by (Andreas) Strassmeir, who Tim called 'Andy', or 'Andy the Krout.''"

and (my emphasis):

"While Hammer's detailed manuscript contains considerable attention to dates and locations he says McVeigh provided him, it also includes references to three men that the inmate says McVeigh told him were central to the conspiracy – men with close ties to the U.S. military.

Unfortunately, McVeigh, Hammer writes, went to his death claiming he did not know the true identities of these men – only their code names."

and (my emphasis):

"One of these men, McVeigh claims, contacted him shortly after his discharge from the army.

Referring to him only 'the major,' McVeigh said he was invited to work with the shadowy figure during a meeting the two had at Camp McCall. Camp McCall is located on the grounds of Fort Bragg, N.C.

At this meeting, McVeigh – who was still smoldering after being passed over for a spot in the elite Army Special Forces – was told of an off-budget defense department project the Major wanted to invite him to join. The Major said McVeigh would be involved in gathering intelligence for the government on members of the radical rightwing in the U.S., specifically members of the KKK and Aryan Nations.

Hammer wrote that McVeigh told him he was aware of the far-right's methods of robbing banks and armored cars for the so-called 'cause' – the shorthand description of the white power agenda some in the most violent wing of the movement adhered to. It was these tactics, McVeigh said, that he was also encouraged to use."

and (my emphasis):

"Although [McVeigh's sister] said she did not have any names of her brother's cohorts to provide the FBI, she did say her brother told her he was part of a group of men with military backgrounds. He also wrote her that he was working for a group of ex-military soldiers involved in a covert operation involving drug smuggling and assassinations.

At McVeigh’s bombing trial, copies of letters to his little sister were introduced that reflected oblique references to men with military backgrounds that McVeigh claimed had been working with, at the behest of the government, on secret missions."

There are a whole lot more revelations in the article regarding the planning and execution of the Oklahoma City bombing, including the allegation that Terry Nichols didn't provide meaningful assistance to the group after the Murrah building was chosen as the target for the bombing. It is not uncommon for fake informants to come forth after a conspiracy, but all the details provided by Hammer make his story quite compelling. What interests me is the military involvement. Every major American conspiracy in the last forty years has involved significant involvement by two American federal institutions: the FBI and the military. Military intelligence sets up the patsy and arranges the logistics of the attack (sometimes with the help of possibly 'rogue' CIA agents), and the FBI provides cover by stifling any investigation before the attack takes place (the role of the CIA, when it is involved, is usually to create the cover-up and confuse matters by taking the brunt of the blame). Was the Oklahoma City bombing another example of this same pattern? Was 9-11?